“A good corporate culture pays off, especially in times of crisis”
Many companies are cutting their advertising and communications budgets because of the pandemic. But it is precisely in times of crisis that brand management “inwards“ can prove its worth.
The Klein Report spoke to Ralph Hermann, managing director and owner of Heads Corporate Branding AG in Zurich, about snow cannons, Brazilian entrepreneurship and the value of a good corporate culture.
Klein report: The first loosening of the lockdown was a few months ago now. How is Heads doing now? Can we talk about normal operations?
Ralph Hermann: Thanks for asking! We are doing well under the circumstances and have been back to a fairly normal operation since the beginning of September. We hope to keep it that way.
Like most industries, the marketing and advertising industry is suffering from the pandemic – not least because many companies are cutting their marketing budgets. How has the Corona crisis affected Heads so far?
Previous crises have never affected everyone at the same time. Successful companies invested in their corporate brand even in times of crisis, and such companies also found their way to us. During the financial crisis in 2008, for example, we were very busy with a large order for Axpo…
…and how is the Corona crisis different?
It affects practically everyone. It scared me back in the spring. We didn’t lose any orders, but several customers put some big projects on hold. And no new orders came in. We had to think about how to compensate for these delays.
How have you managed the lean period so far?
We are fortunate enough to assist several clients with their internal brand management. In this case, support was needed during the shutdown: How to continue transformation processes during the crisis? How do you convey appreciation to working from home? Nevertheless, things were far from rosy for us in March.
How is your agency’s turnover developing? And can you give us a forecast for the next six months?
I can’t yet, because I’ve decided to think only until the end of September. And until then, things don’t look too bad. There’s little point in making more predictions that may soon be overtaken by reality. There are better uses for the energy. In our incredibly stable circumstances, we are used to making long-term predictions. I have always admired my Brazilian relatives for the uncertainty and optimism with which they run their businesses. If something doesn’t work out, which unfortunately is often the case, they immediately find a plan B, C or D.
Brazil… Tell us!
My brother-in-law, for example, imports snow cannons to Brazil because he discovered that the fine water droplets from the cannon can also be used to prevent dust. Dust is a big problem on large urban construction sites and has always led to costly work stoppages. Business has slowed since the Corona crisis, but now health authorities are queuing up for his machines because he has modified them to disinfect entire streets.
A nice story – what can you learn from your Brazilian brother-in-law?
It would certainly not be a bad thing if we in Switzerland adopted a little Brazilian entrepreneurship instead of hunching over Excel sheets and calculating to four decimal places how bad things could get.
How did you personally experience the Corona crisis?
Like many others, I enjoyed the fact that Lockdown brought the family closer together. And with my 22-year-old son living at home again during this time and having time to look after my fitness as a ’drill sergeant’, I even lost five kilos during Lockdown.
And how did the lockdown get to you in the office?
It was exhausting to reduce the exchange to video meetings. For a few weeks I was alone in the agency, the work was going well and my team was extremely productive from home, but I missed my colleagues. I also missed the face-to-face interaction with our clients.
Did Heads resort to short-time working?
Yes, the staff reduced their workload to 50 per cent from March to August. So I was able to promise that none of our established team would face redundancy. Of course, I was worried about whether it would be enough, and if not, I was prepared to take a bigger loss, because the agency had built up decent reserves over many good years…
…and in retrospect, were the concerns justified?
For a long time, I was not sure whether the few companies that could invest in their brand in these difficult times would find their way to us. But we’ve been lucky: in the last few months we’ve won three digital clients, and now it’s fitting that all the brains are back to their normal workloads.
As an entrepreneur, what lessons do you draw from the Corona crisis?
My main takeaway is that a good corporate culture pays dividends – especially in times of crisis. It was a great pleasure to see how everyone at Heads got involved and developed crisis management measures for our clients. But it was also impressive to see this at our clients, for example at AMAG: the garages were seen as systemically important, and what AMAG employees did there under the most difficult conditions, only happens when there is the right commitment. Companies without a good corporate culture will rightly worry about the home office and ask themselves: Who will behave properly when no one is watching?